Cornerback Kyle Arrington, who played a valuable role in the Patriots secondary, will be released by the team, according to ESPN.com.

According to the source, there remains a possiblity that the Patriots could re-sign Arrington, who was scheduled to earn $3 million this season. The move leaves the Patriots without its top three players at the position from last season, with Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner leaving in free agency.

In two losses against the Patriots this season, including Sunday's 45-7 loss in the AFC title game, Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton was bottled up offensively. Hilton had just three catches for 24 yards in a 42-20 loss Nov. 16 and had one catch for 36 yards Sunday.

"Coach (Bill) Belichick, he did the same thing, had the same game plan -- Kyle Arrington on me, (safety Devin McCourty) over the top," Hilton said, per ESPN. "They took away everything. When I tried to go across the middle, they had the linebackers drop. The linebackers hit me to try to disrupt me. It pretty much was the same game plan as last time. They did a pretty good job of taking me away."

"You know Kyle really stepped up; played T.Y. good," Belichick said. "T.Y. is a great receiver. He’s got outstanding speed and quickness, and he’s a tough guy to cover on all routes: short, intermediate, deep. He had a great catch on the sideline dragging his feet. It was a perfect throw and a great catch. But that’s what it’s like playing against them. But Kyle competed really well. He jammed, and he and Devin did a real good job on T.Y."

The Patriots listed 18 players on its final injury report for Week 17 against Buffalo. Quarterback Tom Brady (ankle) was the only player on the report listed as probable, while running back Jonas Gray (ankle) and cornerback Alfonzo Dennard (hamstring) were ruled out. The rest were deemed questionable.